Dry and reasonable weather

 Not much in the way of pictures. Skies are clear, nippy at night, got up to 85 today but didn't feel like it other than needing the fan in the afternoon. So comfortable enough for sure and perfect for growing seedlings, as long as the soil is moist enough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opposite ends of the lawn area. South wall with leaves all blown off to pile up so they could mow the grass. Tree is totally stripped of leaves now and sky is a slight shade lighter than it shows in the picture. Still just a picture perfect fall day in San Diego.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plants and soil undisturbed the last 24 hours it seems. Cauliflower is looking perfect but should probably water tomorrow especially the West bed with the carrot seedlings coming up. The cilantro bed is doing well, can barely see that for all the weed seedlings coming up. Not exactly sure what those are but as soon as it's safe I'll be turning the soil over in that bed after the cilantro is gone. Or just keep pulling patches of those plants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even as spindly as the lettuce seedlings were I took a chance and planted them out  because they were getting dry. The soil in the bed was moist enough it would keep them okay until tomorrow. Again, much too close to the edge for Romaine but if they get as big as the cauliflower I can transplant them.

And cilantro doing what it wants growing out of bounds better than in the beds. That's some of the seeds I tossed out at the end of the summer this year. Hey, it's one of those plants that I can guarantee it growing somewhere in the garden at least 6 or more months of the year. Plant it now and it will be full size plants by spring. Reseed in spring and have it until mid summer. Only problem is, tomatoes and peppers are summer plants so are bulb onions. Which I forgot I had planted in some of the pellets until they were bone dry and I saw a black seed in the middle. Oh well, forgot I did that. Plenty of time for those to grow at least. Those are from the random white onion that was growing in front of someone's yard near the boy's school a year or two ago. If they grow, they grow, if not will see about getting some starts instead.

So that's all the excitement for today such as it is. 

Rocky trying to stalk some Mourning Doves feeding off seeds in the grass.

 

Watering and what not

 Clear, cold at night, sunny during the day and perfect weather to be in the garden. Just wish I didn't have to pull out the hose, attach it unreel it and stretch it out, walk back to turn the water on, walk back and open it up. And then have to fight with the curl of the hose wanting to turn the sprayer in the wrong direction.

Not garden related but fun anyway. I went up to near Anaheim to visit a friend and sitting outside on their patio her husband looked up and remarked about the odd birds circling. I looked up as he said 'they look like pelicans' I agreed 'Yes those are pelicans! Wow!' Snapped the best picture I could of them as they were on an updraft as they circled. Mind you the nearest beach area is maybe six miles but I've lived closer to the beach and never saw them overhead. Very cool anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And some critter got in the beds the last two days. Not sure if they dug up any of the potatoes but it looked like two of the holes were deep enough right in the middle. Not a big deal, don't think the potatoes are going to grow anyway. The crate was knocked down so that was likely the access ladder. They did a pretty thorough circuit but stayed clear of the onions, good to know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Same situation in the west bed. Dug a little around the end but stayed pretty much away from the onions. Good thing because the lettuce and carrots are starting to come up finally. Hard to see them but they're there. I watered gently of course so as not to fold them over or disturb the soil too much. Will see what survives the next few days.

I planted the three cauliflower and realize now those are much too close to the edge but oh well. Didn't want to risk disrupting the potatoes in the middle if they were trying to put up shoots. I didn't plant the four romaine because they were much too small so I considered what to do, given the garden invader. I was going to leave them out on top like that then decided to put them down along side the bed where it's shaded. Then thought, okay guess  I'll just put the crate over the cauliflower just in case. 

Cilantro in the south bed is doing what it does and alllll the little whatever seedlings are threatening to choke them out so I pulled a few bunches of them out and a tall grass like weed at the back. 

So that's the excitement for this week. Can't say the skies are crystal clear but they are definitely clear horizon to horizon with a light breeze. So pleasant temperatures at lest with windows and door open for ventilation. 

It's December in San Diego! Don't expect snow or rain anymore for sure. 

Still in a waiting zone

 Weather shifted dramatically last night. Wild wind came up after dark and when I looked at the weather app it's going to be clear and cooler for the next week. So absolutely had to go out and water the beds since I won't be home on Saturday.

Big winds completely stripped the poor tree that didn't have much left to start with.

All the leaves are brown... no wait they're pink and red and yellow.... had to get a picture of that big sycamore leaf and then saw how pretty the other leaves were it was just great for a fall picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cauliflower seedlings are coming along but still stretched out, the romaine seedlings.... sorely tempted to give up on them. They just don't get enough sun in that window and all of them should have more leaves and less stem for sure. I shifted those six to the black container that has the four pellets with rose seeds and two other lettuce seedlings. I just might have to wait until spring for those. 

And what fall picture would not be complete without fungus! Those look like the edible type but I know better than to follow through on that thought. I'll buy my fungus at the store thank you very much. 

Had to get  a picture of the garden area for comparison sake a few days ago and caught Rocky checking out what might have wandered through. Onions in the south bed are taller, cilantro is still chucking along, I picked another lemon off the bush at the back and noticed today that those three on the bush are not there today. That shade angle tells you just why that south side is not viable in the winter. Whoever set this garden up was not a gardener. I would have put the beds all along the building and the back wall. Make the south wall the walkway and U shaped beds on the building side. But noooo, poor planning and lack of knowledge makes for bad garden beds.

Anyway, that's all for this week, dry skies and cool nights coming up.
 

A little progress

 I had multiple things come up during prime time for watering so didn't get a chance to do that today and the seeds I'm sure were probably under a dry blanket of soil. Will probably have to go get some more lettuce seeds for sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But first, flowers. This is in front of Dolores' apartment, I had to take a picture of that one hibiscus throwing a color mutation. I hope that continues for the next set of flowers because I will ask for a cutting to propagate it. Gorgeous color without that but just stunning.

 

The fall color continues. This is a bad picture because the sun is off to the left upper corner and the camera had to compensate by making it darker. The hibiscus kind of is echoing the fall colors of the trees.

These are my cauliflower seedlings, the lettuce are behind them and not doing as well. One actually fell over and when I tried to move it, there was no roots left. Oh well, four or five Romaine will be fine, wish I had a proper greenhouse type shelf that didn't turn into an oven in the afternoon. 

 

And then there's the resident gopher. I forgot my phone earlier when I was out with Rocky but that hole in the corner totally had a gopher poking their head out and then in again for a good five minutes or more. Finally Rocky noticed but wasn't fast enough, he is not on his game today because he totally missed out on two lizards too. So that is an industrious gopher for sure and hope they stay in that area of the lawn. 

A lot smaller than I thought it would be but maybe it's one of the babies from the spring. Oh well, Rocky hadn't encountered one before and only saw movement in and out of the hole so he was just curious. Hope that they have another encounter and I'd let him keep it but not bring it home.

 

Short note today, hoping to water tomorrow at some point.  

 

Proof about eggshells and other rambling

 In the garden group some people tout putting eggshells in the garden for calcium, but much like ant other 'folk remedies' not all the information is passed on. But first, the weather.

Today is clear and cool, though warmer outside than inside the apartment in a good way. It's really nippy in the apartment and by the time I realized how warm it was outside, it's now late afternoon and cooling down. Had to actually wear a light jacket sitting at my desk but was outside earlier in just a t shirt and jeans. 

Hard to tell but I watered that bed. The onions are still there and will start catching up and growing soon enough. Still waiting for the potato pieces to dry so I can put them out there. Also not visible is a pair of seedlings coming up on the far side, not sure what they are, don't remember throwing seeds out there recently so likely just drifted weed seeds. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The south bed with the cilantro and mixed weeds. I saw someone who took a chance and interplanted cilantro and parsley. I think they planted them in their own groups and not interplanted scattering because that's a recipe for disaster seasoning. The other picture is for the comment about eggshells.

All those white bits in the bed, that's from the sifted compost. Eggshells that are about 1/4" big so they slipped through the mesh of the basket. I have not put eggshells in the compost for at least a year or two. They do not break down quickly at all and therefore do not release their calcium into the soil either. The proper way is to dry them in the oven then grind them into a powder to distribute into your compost. Like any other elements of compost, the smaller the pieces the faster they break down. 

I used the misting option on the nozzle for those so the seeds didn't get disturbed being carrots and lettuce. Really need to go find some leaf lettuce seeds again.

 

It's possible that when the cilantro gets bigger I can dig them up and transplant them so I can run the shovel or cultivator in that south bed to turn under those weeds. That bed gets no sun at all in the winter, not during midday at least and if there is any sun it is very early in the morning and only on the front edge of the bed. The pictures were all taken a little before noon.

 

So maybe will plant those potato pieces tomorrow or Friday (Thursday is Thanksgiving) and hope for the best.  

Still cold and damp but good

 Actually took advantage of a break in the weather and direct sowed some seeds. Skies are still cloudy-ish and not warm at all. 

Blogger being stupid with photos again.

The liquid amber trees are all changing except that one. I mentioned previously about how three in a line were all at different stages. Not sure whether it's an original age when planted thing or what but it sure is fun to look at. Mostly cloudy today with a light sprinkle overnight so the last few days have been mostly damp and cold. Bring it on!

    

The clouds are beautiful when there's gaps and the sun shines through on the distant hill. This is what Fall weather should be like, not 80 or 90. Yes, that happened a few years ago and a different year it rained like it did last week. So yeah, vagaries of weather in California.

I brought down the last of the Chantenay carrots and mixed lettuces which I did my best to plant behind the onions in the west bed. The lettuces all came out mostly at the far end so had to kind of sweep them along a line. 

There was a perfectly good little wire wastebasket on the table when I went down and snapped it up because it's useful in the garden. The holes are about ¼ inch so not good at fine sifting but works just the same. I dumped some of the compost into it and then shook it all over the west bed where I had planted the seeds. Perfectly fine cover with a few larger bits of eggshell unfortunately but still good. Yay for new tool!

Never underestimate nature and one person's trash is another's new garden. Apparently one of the two other gardeners just dumped a good clump of green onions in the compost and they started to sprout. Sooooo, not on my watch. Drilled and dug holes and plopped them all down, a good two dozen, maybe dozen and a half. Still plenty of room for the potatoes. The last little one that I had missed is actually a purple so I cut that up, put the pieces in a safe place to dry and will try and get those in the ground in the next week.

And it seems that the bucket lid wasn't exactly water tight because there's at least an inch of water in the bottom of that bucket. Oh well, nothing tragic really and will dump it out another day.

Will see how long it takes for the seeds to sprout, the cilantro is coming along in the south bed along with a multitude of small weed seedlings. I pulled a few fingerfuls and will keep doing that mostly around the cilantro plants. If it weren't for the cilantro I'd spray the whole bed with vinegar, but I just might rig up a shield and still do that. 

So that's all for the garden today. Oh the seeds in the little pellets are going very slowly. The cauliflowers are very leggy unfortunately due to lack of bright light and the romaine are just poking along. I need a little mini greenhouse with a light...... and just realized I have something that might work. A flea trap I bought! It's small, maybe six inches square but it has a single lightbulb in the center.... hmmmmmm.

Will see if that works or not. 

 

    

First rainstorm of the season.

 They said it would rain really hard all up and down the coast and it sure as heck did. Started Friday night and hit full blast on Saturday when I planned on driving up to a friend that lives near Anaheim. It was torrential rain non stop until we got an hour out and I decided to turn back. Not making that mistake again and thankful I had new tires. Our area got between an inch and two inches in different places.

 Basically cloudy for two days after the storm as it should be, top two are from Saturday and the bottom is from yesterday. It is now patchy high wispy clouds but still very cool and definitely sweater weather.

Garden definitely benefited from the rain. I planted out more onion cuttings but seeds are being very slow in the window due to it being cold and not as sunny. That south bed has more weeds than cilantro so will just let everything grow other than the dandelion/prickly lettuce that were coming up. those will overpower everything. 

The romaine are starting to sprout and the cauliflower is continuing to grow. Haven't had a chance to get to the garden center or the library to get anymore seeds. Before it rained I dumped the last of the fertilizer in all three beds so everything should have plenty of nourishment for a while. 

So,  you remember the potato cuttings? I didn't have anywhere safe and out of the way to put the tray after cutting them up so I put them in the oven.  Yep. You guessed it, forgot they were in there when I preheated the oven for dinner the next day. Will plant them anyway and maybe a few will survive. I did miss one red potato so that one is still safe to use at least. I don't have that much room for all of those anyway.  At least they're dried. 😆